Clear eyes
by The Little man
Summary: The tradition of partners has been around Konoha for many generations, but when its time for Uzumaki Naruto to find his partner, A certain shy Hyuuga is there. Naru/Hina
1. Chapter 1

24 Academy students sat on their knees, sashes around their eyes, as they listened to instructions given out by their teachers

24 Academy students sat on their knees, sashes around their eyes, as they listened to instructions given out by their teachers. This ritual was one of passage and a tradition formed long ago at the beginning of Konoha.

Naruto Uzumaki smiled from under his sash as he listened to his teachers. Today was the day he was assigned a partner. He had worked very hard for this moment and finally the time had come. Shaking his head, as a true ninja must not show emotion, he almost screamed as he was picked up and lead away from where the remaining children sat. Finally being sat back down he ignored what had happened and continued to think on today's events.

The introduction of the partner into Konoha had been very successful as their partner saved many ninja each year. Partners were with you until they either died or you died, at which point they usually gave up on the ninja career. Your partner trained with you, ate with you, even slept in the same room as you, it was uncommon for male and female partners to even get married. Naruto smiled. He would be glad to forge that connection with…anyone.

"Now channel chakra around your self, and go to the chakra that most attracts you, there is no going back from this point, and your partner will be chosen for life."

12 students were chosen to be the 'seekers' and the other twelve the 'found'. The chakra aura that surrounds one is to make sure you and your partner were most compatible. A very good system indeed.

Slowly movement was felt around the room as seekers chose they're found.

Naruto still hadn't been chosen yet.

He sighed.

Perhaps he had an ugly chakra? Shaking his head to clear the thought he focused on resonating it throughout the room.

&! &#!

Hyuuga Hinata walked slowly through the room; she could feel the chakra of many but none of them felt right. She too had anticipated this day. The day she would make her first true friend. Sure there was Ten-ten and Ino, and that pink haired girl, but they were more acquaintances than anything.

She sighed.

Focusing her chakra she slowly felt warmth coming from somewhere. Blushing she decided to follow it. Puzzled as she opened a door, she continued to follow it.

_I thought all the students were in the same room._

She followed many corridors and found her goal as the warmth enveloped her. She smiled as she removed the sash of the person the warmth was coming from.

(! ! &! &(! &!

When Naruto's sash fell to the ground he smiled and looked up to see two things. The first was a pale-eyed girl whom the name of which evaded him; the second was that he was not in the same room he had begun in. Discarding this fact he greeted the person who had found him.

"HI! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, next hokage!"

Blushing Hinata mumbled her name softly as she shook his hand. At which point the teachers who had placed Naruto in the room cursed under their breath. He wasn't supposed to have a partner, let alone the heir of the Hyuuga clan, this wouldn't end very well.

"Oi, you two. Come here lets go back…"

(!(!((!#(!

After Naruto and Hinata had spoken to each other for a little bit, they were sent to get their belongings as they were to be moved to a new living quarters. At which point the instructors took the opportunity to speak to the hokage.

"Hokage-sama, we have a situation with the new academy students."

Taking a drag out of his pipe, he nodded signaling for Iruka to continue.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto sir, he seems to have…bypassed…our failsafe. A partner has chose him."

Coughing the Hokage spoke.

"I'm not as concerned about that as much as I am that you decided to sabotage the choosing, continue for now a punishment will be decided later."

Gulping, Iruka continued.

"Well, myself and mizuki-san placed Naruto-san in a chakra nullified room, away from the other children as many parents have issued complaints about him possibly being partnered with their child. In any case that Hyuuga girl, found him and apparently choose him. Considering the position the Hyuuga are at in our council I suggest we revoke the partnering."

"No."

Looking up from the ground, Iruka looked surprised at the hokage's words.

"But Hok-"

"I said no, not only is the ritual a right of passage and tradition in konoha's history, but If this Hyuuga girl was able to sense him from a room where his chakra was locked in, I doubt she will find a better partner. Tell Hiashi that if he has any complaints that he will keep them to himself as I am a very busy man. Now leave."

"H-hai Hokage-sama"

As Iruka left, the Hokage smiled to himself.

_Those brats shall be capable of great things, and I know just who to train them._

"Secretary."

"Yes?"

"Get me..Mitarishi Anko."

"Yes sir."

Chuckling the man continued his thoughts.

_Oh this will be interesting._

!&!(&!#

I thought this up in like 10 minutes, I know my other stories need an update but…meh… review.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all your support; I really appreciate it, so I'll answer a few of your questions

Thanks for all your support; I really appreciate it, so I'll answer a few of your questions.

Q: How old are they?

A: I wasn't really sure how old they should be when I was writing this but they are eleven years old. This means 1 year before the genin exam.

Q: Does this conclude their academy training?

A: Yes, yes it does.

Q: Doesn't Iruka like Naruto though?

A: Not necessarily, this is slightly AU so he doesn't like him although he doesn't despise him. Mostly it was in his best interest to listen to the parents who complained as his job hung in the balance.

This is all I can really answer without giving out the plot, and a note about this story and my other stories. The battle scene's and missions that they will be going on are a bit darker than normal stories. For example, some battles may only last a paragraph. My stories aren't kiddy ninja stories if someone sneaks up on someone they aren't going to make a cool entrance they are going to slice their neck.

! (! ! !)(!)

Anko Mitarishi was having a very nice day.

She was slightly buzzed from sake, just ate her fill on dango, and gotten her payment from her last mission. Yep, nothing could be better. That was until she got buzzed to the hokage tower. Sighing she adorned her trench coat and took off.

When she arrived in the Hokages room she bowed as was customary and began to speak.

"How may I help you my lord?"

Coughing, Sarutobi sat upright.

"Ah, Anko, how nice of you to join me. How have you been?"

Anko wasn't one for petty talk and honoraries, she was a little rough around the edges having grown up in a hostile environment but that only led to her becoming an even greater ninja. Gritting her teeth she responded.

"**How **may I **help** you my lord."

Chuckling Sarutobi continued.

"As you know our village has a short amount of jounin and you yourself being a tokubetsu jounin should have jumped on the opportunity to rise in rank."

Taking a drag from his pipe, he continued.

"Thus, I find the need to promote you, congratulations."

Smiling Anko bowed and got up to leave.

"However…"

Anko's smile faltered slightly.

"There are some conditions that must be met…"

Still slightly smiling she listened.

"First you may not take any more missions for the duration of time it takes you to complete this task."

Her smile gone, but she was still in a relatively good mood.

_I could use a break anyway._

"Second, your drinking must be controlled, you will only allow yourself to become intoxicated twice a month."

A slight frown adorned her face and she sighed.

_I don't drink that much anyway, I can still get buzzed without getting shitfaced._

"And lastly…you will be training a pair of to-be genin. If they pass their exam…then well…you pass yours…good day."

A scowl presented itself on her face as she pushed her way through the door.

"Oh and your trainees will be Hyuuga Hinata, and Uzumaki Naruto, good luck!"

Sighing she roof hopped her way back to her house were she lay on her bed and thought about the proposition.

I have to train a bunch of fucking runts, not only do I have to train a stuck up Hyuuga but a nobody as well. I guess I should just drill the shit out of them until they get it.

1\!(&!!(

Back at the genin living quarters Hinata and Naruto were unpacking their stuff in their bedroom. It wasn't really a large place but it was spacious enough to allow for them to not feel too uncomfortable around each other.

Both however anticipated their first meeting with their new sensei, both strived to become great ninja, both sought recognition among their peers, and both had no true family to call their own. Naruto because of his parents being killed in the battle with Kyuubi and Hinata because her family alienated her due to her sister excelling in the arts.

"N-Naruto?" Surprisingly Hinata broke the silence that plagued them.

"Yeah?"

"Oh…I w-was wondering…w-why you chose to…b-become a ninja…"

Looking up in thought for a moment, Naruto responded.

"Why that's easy, I chose to become a ninja so the village would recognize my strength. Someday I want to be hokage so I can gain the recognition of everyone and protect everyone…that's my nindo."

Blushing slightly Hinata responded with a small 'oh'.

"What about you? What's your nindo?"

A deeper tone of red crept through her face as she spoke.

"I-I want my father to recognize me. Ever since my-…well ever since Hanabi was born he's n-never so much a-as smiled at me."

Naruto kept himself from interrupting her mid-sentence as he listened.

She was going to say something different.

That she was…

Hearing a voice Naruto pulled out a kunai and held himself in a defensive stance, when he didn't see Hinata react, rather look at him strangely he questioned himself.

"Didn't you just hear that voice?"

"N-No…"

"Hmmmm…."

Sitting down and putting away his kunai he addressed her.

"Well I think that's a great nindo Hinata! How's about we make a pact right here…to always stay true to our nindo!"

Blushing and Nodding Hinata sliced her thumb slightly open as Naruto did with his and together they wrote 'nindo' in kanji. After it was signed both smiled as they headed towards their first practice with their new teacher.

#(#!!


	3. Chapter 3

When Naruto and Hinata arrived at their designated training area, they were surprised to find the other pairings of their clas

When Naruto and Hinata arrived at their designated training area, they were surprised to find the other pairings of their classmates waiting with their masters.

Chouji and Ino… Kiba and Shikimaru…Sasuke and that weird kid Sai…Sakura and…Shino?

Oddly enough Sakura was indeed paired to Shino, both looked perturbed to the other ones presence. Naruto giggled and teased while Hinata simply smiled. Breaking them from their thoughts the Jounin captain 'Hatake Kakashi' spoke.

"Alright as you all seem to be here, its time to fill you in on to what is expected of you and what we are going to be doing today."

Pulling his headband off of his eye, his face turned serious and he spoke again.

"Who can tell me the purpose of your partner?"

Shaking, Sakura raised a hand to answer.

"T-to assist you in your objectives?"

Smiling Kakashi Nodded.

"Correct, now who can tell me the proper way to assist your partner in your objective?"

The field was silent, as the soon-to-be genin didn't have a clue.

"Ah…not unexpected, that's because there is no set rules to combat, missions, or life in general. You have to make it up as you go and hope for the best. The reason we're here as your jounin leaders is to guide you to make proper combat decisions on the field. This training is not a cakewalk and is the second hardest training regiment that Konoha offers, the hardest being of course the Chunnin-Jounin stretch. That being said I will offer you one final chance, to give up and continue your lives as regular citizens of Konoha rather than bring yourself into a lifetime full of death, suffering, and misery. Such is the life of a ninja…"

No one moved. Slowly a few pairs got up and left, the way he had put it made it seem like the best choice. Finally no one was left but that Naruto and Hinata noticed, and from that point on they were deemed the rookie 10.

"Good, lets begin. Strip Naked."

Jaws hit the ground as many wondered if he was joking or serious. When he didn't move or react they slowly obeyed and their clothing was left.

"This is your first mission, it is B-ranked and you will receive pay for it. Together with your partner you will venture into training ground 16. This training ground is called 'The Pilgrimage'. It's a rather large area located outside of the village. 16 miles in diameter. There is a small lake with a very small population of fish located…somewhere…your goal is to find a small token."

Reaching into his pocket he pulled a small dog tag without the chain on, engraved with the Konoha symbol. Once everyone had a chance to see it he pocketed the item.

"There are 10 located within the forest so everyone can pass this mission/exam. Now here's the interesting part, you may steal another teams token to pass the exam. There is no limit to how many you can steal and what you can do with them. Here are your resources."

A poof of smoke appeared and there was a table with a few objects.

"First is one map for the two of you. This is undoubtedly the most important tool a ninja can have. If one does not know where one is, then one does not know where one is going. Second is one pencil for the two of you, I'll go ahead and give you a hint to…spice things up."

Picking up one map, he circled an area in the northwest corner.

"This is where one of the tokens lay, remember any token is forfeit to anyone who claims it. You each get 4 Kunai, 10 Shuriken, and 6 feet of ninja wire, be creative. You each get a canteen with water in it and a small pack. That is all."

Sighing he raised his headband to cover his eye.

"Lastly, jounin we will be stationed throughout the forest to make sure all goes smoothly. You have 4 days. Go."

And with that the pairings sprang off into different directions, eager to complete the challenge that awaited them.

"Kakashi…did they really have to be naked?"

Shrugging Kakashi replied.

"I suppose not but this will teach them not to be…_distracted…_"

All the jounin present laughed as they followed the students into the forest.

! &! #!

As they entered the forest, they had realized a problem with their plans…

They were all headed to the same place.

All had entered at the same place.

As they ran, tension grew thick until finally a kunai was thrown at Sasuke and he retaliated with a jutsu, and a battle broke out.

Kunai, Jutsu and punches flew left and right for a few minutes before the pairs dispersed into the forest.

Breathing heavily Hinata and Naruto arrived at a suitable destination for them to camp.

"So…yeah…lets…find…this token."

Nodding Hinata was about to reply before she realized…she wasn't decent. With a small 'eep' she jumped behind a tree and looked around it to see Naruto…clothed?

"Ano…Naruto-kun…where did you find clothes?"

Naruto who had been busy making plans as to their search, didn't look up from his work.

"It's just a henge, I figured it would be…for the best."

Nodding, Hinata henged herself into her normal attire. When she was done she took a seat next to Naruto and listened to his plan.

"Alright seeing as we have 4 days to scour this place for a small token I figure the most effective way would be to comb each area for a set amount of time before we move on. If we haven't found a token by halfway through the third day, we then turn our search for other teams who may have one. Sound good?"

She nodded and they took off.

! (!! #! #!

**Sakura and Shino.**

Shino hummed as he tried to focus his shikaku, this task would be quite easy for him and his bugs, though something was attempting to break him from his concentration…

He hummed.

He could hear something faint.

He hummed louder.

Trying to defy him it seems it got louder.

He hummed louder.

Fate had it in for him as it got even louder.

He hummed as loud as he could.

When it got louder he lost it.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING, I'M ATTEMPTING TO FIND THE TOKEN SO WE CAN GET OUT OF HERE, SIT DOWN AND SHUTUP FOR GODS SAKE BEFORE YOU GIVE UP OUR POSITION."

Sakura who had been screaming and freaking out over the fact that she was in the nude, was thoroughly surprised at him yelling at her. She immediately sat down and tried to solve her clothing problem quietly.

A few minutes later Shino piped up again, this time however he was not so angry.

"My bugs have a lock on a token 3 miles west from here, lets go."

Sakura who had henged herself clothes nodded dumbly as she followed.

**Sasuke and Sai.**

Biting down on a branch, Sai cried as Sasuke tore a kunai that had been lodged in his shoulder out. This would be hard for them since he was injured, and they couldn't rely on winning a fight due to his injury. Their only chance was to find a token before the other teams and go into hiding for the 4 days.

"Do you think you can run?"

Shaking his head, Sai moaned again in pain.

"Shit…stay here while I find some herbs or something to wrap it in…keep pressure on it."

And with that Sasuke bounded into the forest.

That's when Chouji and Ino arrived.

"My my my...what do we have here…a wounded little bird left all alone." Said Ino.

Sai who was in too much pain to speak just stared back at them, he could form a few one handed seals but he would undoubtedly lose in against them in a fight.

"Ino there's no way he could have a token, we're wasting our time. I…I don't want to kill him…" This was Chouji; the concept of killing someone was out of the question to them, they were still kids. So they left Sai to his pain and headed towards the spot Kakashi had circled on the map.

Sai struggled to stay conscious amidst the pain, finally he passed out but fortunately the bleeding had stopped.

**Kiba and Shikamaru.**

While Kiba had been busy celebrating injuring Sai, Shikamaru had been calculating, finally coming up with an ingenious solution to the problem.

"Kiba, we're not going to find or steal a token."

"W-What? Why?"

Shikamaru smiled, arose from his seat, and began walking.

"Simple…because we're going to make one…"

Dumbfounded he followed him into what looked like a cave.

"You have a ninjutsu that is like a drill correct?"

Kiba nodded. Walking over to a wall shikamaru ran his tongue over the surface until he came upon a dark spot. Marking it with an 'X', he stood back and looked at Kiba who began to understand it. Using Gatsuga on the wall he stood back and shikamaru walked over to the remains of the portion of the wall. Sniffing the powdery product he smiled.

Jackpot…Jounin

Hatake Kakashi was like always, busy reading his book, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko had been taking bets. Gai was doing exercises and Akina (OC) was drinking. So far it had been an interesting few hours, a small skirmish and an injury, their students pleasantly surprised them. Sai held control of his pain until he could escape the battle _with_ his partner. That was important, as this was a team building exercise. Naruto and Hinata had fared well in the skirmish escaping unscathed. Naruto's Ninjutsu combined with Hinata's Taijutsu was a force to be reckoned with. Chouji and Ino also did well in the skirmish, although Ino missed an opening to use her clans signature move. She made up for it for her intimidations skills; she was pretty good for a preteen. And Kiba and Shikamaru came up with one of the cleverest ideas to have ever graced the exam. Yes all the jounin were quite pleased with their students and a happy atmosphere surrounded them. They would be quite ready for the Chunnin exams which were a few months away, that is of course if they made it to genin.

!!

Phew that was a long one, I hope you enjoy I think this is my best chapter yet. As you can see the action is beginning and Konoha's training technique has been highly upped from canon. Well Ja ne!.


End file.
